oscars wont eat

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KAIKS

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Mar 27, 2003
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as some of you know i scored two 6" oscars and a 30g
well i bought them home and they arent eating, ive had them since friday, ive tried feeders, pellets

anyone got any ideas on whats going on?

note: the current owner did not clean the tank in about 17 months, the water was green a filled with fungus
 
It's completely normal for fish not to eat after stressful events. The tank relocation and a massive water change for the first time in over a year...I would call that stressful.

Healthy fish can go 2 weeks without eating. I wouldn't be concerned...yet. It's more important to make sure their current environment is adequate at this point. As said above, a larger tank is in order.

Often, when fish are neglected for a long period and suddenly tank conditions are improved, causes the fish's health to decrease rapidly. I guess their systems get acclimated to poor conditions. Good luck with your Oscars.
 
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I would start feeding them small livefoods with dry foods mixed in so as to stimulate the appetite, but be very careful not to get your fish accustomed to livefoods unless that will be the staple of their diet.

2 6" Oscars in a 30 is overkill, so you will need at least a 60 for them at this point, and you may as well buy a 90+ in order to keep them long-term.

Hope this helps,

Matthew
 
yeah man. 30g for one oscar is way way way to small. as far as not eating, im sure they will eat eventually. the largest oscar that i own, about 10 inches was neglected for a long time, and when he was put in a bigger tank, he didnt know what to do with the extra room. from what i have been told about oscars though, that you need 5 gallons per inch of oscar. oscars get very large, and can be alot of work sometimes.

Goodluck.
 
I have had luck getting stubborn/sick fish to eat by rehydrating freeze dried krill in a mixture of garlic puree and water. Just let it soak for a couple of hours and it will sink down to them, what doesn't sink just scoop off of the top and save for later.
 
i know the tank is small. i dont plan on keeping the oscars, im looking for a home for them. i would love to keep them but i dont have a big enough tank.


thanks for the help :D
 
i know what do do

my oscar wouldn't eat unless its a gold fish when i first got him but i got him on meal worms but at the moment he is sick so i take the food to him buy:

getting a metre or cotton string
and tying it to a peice of meat either beef heart,or a bit of steak and gangle it in front of them and they should snap it up

p.s.don't wrap the string around the meat just ty it to a loose bit so when they grap it it breakes off and u can rebait it simple as pie

id like to meet that guy who use to own them you know what i meen:mad: ;)
 
i wouldnt say that they are permenently stunted. Ive had fish ive gotten from people that kept them in horrible conditons. In those situations the fish would be quarentined for a few days and id watch the eating habits. once the fish gets my stamp of approval and is eating, id place it into its Appropriate tank which would also include a raised tempature, and large water changes (50%)at least every other day. That should get it growing and healthy in no time. Of course if the fish is severly deformed, like curled spine of something drastic as a result of it previous enviroment then it would just get the deep freeze...
 
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